The Nfl

D Lite in Big D
Don't celebrate just yet, Cowboys—that supercharged Wade Phillips defense still needs a jolt of energy

WADE PHILLIPS 'S first camp as coach of the Cowboys sometimes seemed more Boy Scouts than Junction Boys. There was so little hitting—or yelling—that the Dallas media began referring to the 16-day stint in the antiseptic, air-conditioned confines of San Antonio 's Alamodome as Camp Cupcake. Still, Cowboys players said, Phillips 's placid demeanor (his volatile predecessor, Bill Parcells , "was like a mafioso, and everyone else was a foot soldier," says nosetackle Jason Ferguson ) belied a dogged commitment to getting more aggressive and unpredictable on defense. Parcells 's 3--4 scheme, which called almost exclusively on outside linebackers to rush the passer, produced a middling 34 sacks last season, and opponents racked up an average of 419 yards of total offense over the final five regular-season games. "Now we got a shot, man," third-year defensive end Marcus Spears said of his unit last Friday. "[Opposing offenses] have to account for everyone pass rushing now. We'll see who the cupcakes are when the games start getting played."

The Cowboys ' games started getting played two nights later against the Giants , and while the Dallas defenders weren't exactly crummy, the grand unveiling of Phillips 's 3--4 appeared to be troublingly half-baked in. But thanks to an explosive Tony Romo--led offense that produced eight plays of more than 20 yards and piled up 478 total yards (43 more than the Cowboys had in any game last season), Dallas won a 45--35 shootout better suited to the Big East than the smashmouth NFC East.

The defense's struggles began just 78 seconds into the action, when Giants wideout Plaxico Burress burned cornerback Anthony Henry on a deep post and snagged an Eli Manning pass in stride for a 60-yard touchdown, and didn't end until the final whistle. The Cowboys executed little of the dynamic, attacking defensive philosophy Phillips has espoused and refined in his 30 years as an NFL coach, the past three as the Chargers ' defensive coordinator. Dallas yielded 144 yards and three touchdowns to Burress , who seemed to get open at will. It allowed running back Derrick Ward—who totaled 123 rushing yards in three previous seasons—to gain 89 yards on the ground and 27 more through the air, even though Ward didn't get his second touch until a sprained knee sidelined starter Brandon Jacobs midway through the second quarter.

The Giants offense had only one three-and-out series and punted just twice. The one interception thrown by the much-maligned Manning came when Burress slipped on the Texas Stadium turf and the ball sailed into the hands of corner Jacques Reeves. Perhaps most disquietingly of all for the Cowboys , they put little pressure on Manning (312 passing yards and four touchdowns) and had only one sack.

Amid the postgame euphoria generated by a Week 1 victory over a division rival on national television, few Dallas players were in a mood to focus on anything negative, and several attributed New York 's offensive showing more to Manning 's success than to their own failings. "Eli was smart enough to get rid of the ball quick," said inside linebacker Akin Ayodele , who finished with seven tackles. "A couple of times when we did blitz, he'd just throw it into the flat. He's definitely maturing—he has all the skills and all the talent to be one of the best quarterbacks out there." Added free safety Ken Hamlin, "It's a win. I feel good about a win. There are things we've got to correct, but at the same time: We won."

Phillips was more realistic, saying, "We know we can't give up 35 points every game and expect to win." His defense should soon be bolstered by the return of shutdown cornerback Terence Newman , the man primarily responsible for holding Burress to fewer yards (137) in two games combined against Dallas last season than he had on Sunday. Newman was a late scratch because of a partially torn right plantar fascia but said last Friday that his injury has progressed from feeling as if there were "a long thumbtack sticking into my heel" with every step to bothering him only when he bumps it.

As Phillips watches tape of Sunday's game, however, he might begin to wonder whether his front seven has anywhere near the level of talent he directed to such great effect in San Diego . While the Cowboys do feature DeMarcus Ware , a star pass-rushing outside linebacker in the Shawne Merriman mold, they don't have a proven 'backer opposite him to equal the Chargers ' Shaun Phillips (rookie Anthony Spencer , starting for the injured Greg Ellis , had one tackle); nor do they have a quarterback-hungry defensive end like San Diego's Luis Castillo (starters Spears and Chris Canty combined for three stops and no sacks) or a running-lane-clogging nosetackle akin to two-time Pro Bowl selection Jamal Williams (especially now that Ferguson is most likely out for the year with a torn biceps tendon suffered in the first quarter).

Phillips joined Barry Switzer and Chan Gailey to become the third Cowboys coach to win in his debut, and afterward owner Jerry Jones presented him with the game ball. "I hope Wade is really the most valuable player on the team, as he was in San Diego as the defensive coordinator," Jones said. But if Phillips , calmly or otherwise, doesn't get better performances out of his new defense—and soon—he won't have to clear out space for many more game balls in his trophy case.

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